Listen to your customer!
Today I read an article in the paper about a successful, growing business, surviving and getting better even in this recession. The key? The owners listened to their customers!
Most of us would say that we listen to our customers, but do we do act on what we hear? In this case, the business is serving hotels and other places with renovation work. When things got slow, they learned that their customers had needs for new furniture and a method to get rid of their old stuff. The business heard this and development a mechanism for them to do this. They now have an additional revenue stream from these transactions that go through their business.
Many businesses get so inwardly focused on what they sell or do that they don’t react to needs that aren’t already in their bailiwick. It may be good to focus, but to survive you need to watch for opportunities.
The same is true for individuals seeking work. I think there are opportunities out there that we miss because we “don’t want to do that” kind of work. If we get too focused on just what we want to do we may miss opportunities to meet a need from a potential customer, an employer.
